Chillest Banks in NYC or SF
Does anyone have insight into the chillest / most relaxed investment banks in NYC or SF in terms of hours and culture for an analyst?
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I've heard some ECM / DCM groups are a bit more chill. Outside of that, I would maybe solve to optimize the worst deal flow with the largest analyst classes. idk, maybe that optimization would spit out groups that are just pitching all the time and working the same hours... but in general the better the deal flow and smaller the analyst class, the harder you are worked... so maybe the opposite would solve to a relatively "chill" experience
I wish instead of people saying the bank "has a good culture" they would just say its chill.
From what I've read/heard from people, Barclays is the chillest BB. EBs are leaner and inherently busier as a result, but Evercore seems to have the best reputation from a cultural standpoint. Definitely not PJT (lookup PJT VP email)
Also not Moelis lmao
delete
Any insight into hl?
highly group dependent
RX pre-covid had great lifestyle in NY
I have a few friends at nearly every BB/EB in NYC, and Barclays has the chillest hours/most relaxed vibe. Apparently this doesn't apply to Technology or Industrials.
Anecdotally, heard some banks in LA are also great.
What LA Banks?
Also, banks withe bad deal flow have chill hours often, look for the BBs/MMs at the bottom of the league tables.
How are PJT SF M&A exit opps? It's pretty new
FFL
That's a solid MM firm. Any others? Any MF exits?
Any financial sponsors group. Great exits relative to the relaxed culture / relatively short hours
That's interesting because I thought being at the whim of sponsors would lead to worse culture/ work-life balance.
Can second this as well - FSG often left around 8 or 9 pm consistently. Some late nighters but that was for the closing stages of bake offs or live trans. Heavy lifting was mostly dependent on the sector bankers side of the deal team.
For banks without a “dedicated” FSG team, this would translate to the Lev Fin group but again would depend on deal flow. Some parts of the year could be sponsor heavy while the other parts are more issuance based.
RBC SF and that bank I can't mention well, that's not waht you think but something to consider and think about as you talk and networkw tih people .
All of you always get on me for being that guy who mentions that firm and now uo don't even help the forum out anymore? You all are no better than me, hypocrites.
I will say the name and you all will not mind: FT Partners.
Have heard good things about William Blair.
don’t think this is true. Known as a great culture shop but good culture != good hours. Blair can definitely be a bit of a sweatshop
Barclays and some groups at BoA stand out in terms of culture at bbs
Seeing a lot of Barclays mentions. Which groups are most chill? Can't imagine that ALL of their groups are great in terms of hours?
Just stay tf out of Industrials and Tech
Tech and Industrials at Barclays are very sweaty, known to be the worst in terms of culture and hours. Healthcare also works long hours, but that's just because they kill it in terms of deal flow, and the culture (at least among analysts) is pretty solid. Every analyst I've spoken to in other coverage groups (CR, CMG, P&U, Sponsors, and especially FIG) all speak really highly of the analyst experience. Chillest groups are probably CMG (definitely a "lifestyle" group, but you sacrifice deal flow in exchange for the chiller culture) and FIG (seriously top-notch culture with less face time and still great deal flow, but thought to "pigeonhole" analysts).
Appreciate the insight. Do you know how hard the group placement process is? How likely are you to get top pick?
Curious on the FIG thing. If someone is a top candidate, high GPA high rank school, would FIG still pigeon hole them at a mid-tier BB if they were interested in generalist PE? I know that FIG at places like GS/JP doesn't pigeonhole.
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